While many new customers may visit a department store during peak season, they might not become loyal clients right away. Many retailers wonder how to apply concrete methods to build meaningful relationships with customers and encourage them to return after peak season. This article offers a few tips to help convert new shoppers into long-term customers through scalable and tested engagement and loyalty techniques, ensuring sustained growth even during slower periods.

Building a seamless omnichannel strategy

During the low season, tracking sales and interactions without any blind spots becomes crucial in determining the effectiveness of specific operations. It also allows retailers to react quickly with targeted campaigns when certain strategies are not successful.

Many department stores face common challenges in tracking sales and communications across different departments and branches. Managing various divisions that cannot access each other's data can become a major obstacle to delivering a great customer experience and achieving growth.

This is why more and more department stores are implementing omnichannel solutions that:

1. Track customer behaviour
2. Measure the effectiveness of store operations
3. Monitor inventory
4. Facilitate data transmission between stores and branches

Implementing an omnichannel platform is a crucial first step in building an effective engagement strategy. It streamlines operations, enables data-sharing between branches, aligns different teams to work seamlessly toward results-drivengoals, and, most importantly, ensures consistent client services across all locations.

Anticipating customers' needs and wants

Once an omnichannel strategy is in place, one of the most valuable data points to record is individual customer information. This allows retailers to personalise their offerings and anticipate customer needs.

Personalisation is one of the most significant factors in enhancing client engagement. However, the challenge for most retailers is that personalising their offerings requires understanding individual customer preferences with a scalable method. They must also ensure this information is shared across branches and stores.

One effective solution is creating detailed customer profiles. By storing key client information—such as past interactions with sales representatives, purchase history, brand preferences, and average spending—retailers can better tailor their services to meet individual needs.

On a practical level, sales associates should have easy access to this information to deliver highly personalised recommendations during one-on-one interactions. Not only does this enhance the customer experience, but it also boosts employee confidence by removing the guesswork from the sales process.

Customer engagement is proportional to sales associates' engagement

Sales associates are the face of their company. Giving them more opportunities to engage with clients and rewarding them for doing so successfully is crucial for any retailer's growth. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. retail organisations experience an average employee turnover rate of 60%. High turnover is problematic for retailers, as

studies show that customers are 77% more likely to purchase a product when they trust the person recommending it. In this sense, customer engagement is directly linked to associate engagement and trust.

Empowering sales associates to take ownership of their roles as local experts and even micro-influencers has proven effective, especially when combined with an omnichannel strategy and a highly targeted, personalized approach. More companies are investing in solutions that provide sales associates with opportunities to engage through recommendation pages, social media, appointment scheduling, and direct communication with shoppers outside the store. By increasing touchpoints with customers, retailers can deliver high-quality service while also motivating sales associates to build lasting one-on-one relationships. Tracking successful interactions and rewarding individuals for their engagement has also been shown to boost associate morale and performance.

Building a scalable communication strategy

Nourishing 1-1 relationships with customers is essential to build loyalty, but how can department stores also grow customer engagement through a repeatable and scalable methodology?

It has been demonstrated that personalized interactions and recurring positive engagements drive customer loyalty.

Many retailers have found success by implementing the 3-3-3 or 2-2-2 strategy.

What is the 2-2-2 strategy?

The 2-2-2 strategy in retail communication is a structured approach designed to maintain consistent, personalised follow-ups with customers after a sale or interaction. It nurtures customer relationships and enhances loyalty, proving highly successful within various client bases.

Example:

• 2 days after the sale: Send a thank-you message and offer assistance if needed.
• 2 weeks after the sale: Follow up to ensure the product meets expectations and suggest complementary products based on the initial purchase or recent browsing history.
• 2 months after the sale: Reconnect with the customer to share updates on new arrivals, promotions, or loyalty programs.

The shift from manual to automated processes offers several benefits. Associates no longer need to spend valuable time identifying which customers to contact or tracking down past purchase details. This efficiency allows them to focus on high-value interactions, increasing productivity and optimising clienteling efforts.

Delivering the in-store experience online with AI

E-commerce has become a crucial aspect of the customer buying experience and changed shoppers' habits by providing round-the-clock shopping accessibility. With this new reality, providing personalised responses at any time of the day is becoming an expectation for customers.

While AI cannot replace human recommendations on an emotional level, it can bridge the gap by offering off-hours support and relevant product suggestions when a sales associate is unavailable. AI technology is increasingly tailored to specific retail use cases, making it an essential tool for retailers to consider.

In today's highly competitive market, incorporating AI has become a crucial part in implementing an effective customer engagement journey. A well-designed conversational AI becomes stronger and smarter over time, because it can be trained from your own retail intelligence, allowing it to deliver autonomous, human-like interactions, enhancing the shopping experience. Leveraging years of customer and associate interactions, AI-powered solutions can assist shoppers with visual browsing and personalised product recommendations. Advanced systems also integrate seamlessly with inventory, ensuring only available products are suggested. Additionally, retail-specific AI models can automate product tagging, identifying key features of new items to provide accurate and relevant recommendations during customer interactions.

Conclusion

The key to a successful client retention strategy lies in a retailer's ability to accurately understand their shoppers' needs and deliver personalised outreach. By incorporating automation, empowering sales associates, leveraging AI, and implementing a scalable engagement strategy, retailers can build a strong foundation for long-term success.

*Salesfloor stands as an award-winning clienteling and customer engagement platform, empowering retailers to foster meaningful conversations, drive recommendations, and boost sales. By offering innovative tools such as clienteling, virtual shopping, and conversational AI, Salesfloor enables seamless customer engagement across all channels.

Trusted by over 50,000 associates from leading retailers in apparel, beauty, jewelry, and beyond, Salesfloor is redefining the role of store associates in the modern retail landscape. Renowned brands such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, and Chico's rely on Salesfloor to achieve measurable results, including higher online conversion rates, larger basket sizes, and reduced return rates.*

Salesfloor

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In the competitive world of retail, fostering strong customer trust is no longer a nicety, it's a necessity. Consumers entrust department stores with sensitive personal and financial information, making a secure shopping experience an absolute priority. However, the digital age has introduced a multitude of sophisticated cyber threats. From large-scale data breaches to targeted phishing scams, retailers face a constant uphill battle to safeguard customer information. This is where robust cybersecurity becomes the linchpin. By implementing strong data security measures, department stores can build customer confidence, cultivate lasting loyalty, and ensure a safe and secure shopping experience for all.

Unfortunately, the consequences of failing to prioritize cybersecurity can be severe. Data breaches, which occur when sensitive information like customer names, payment details, or addresses are compromised, can have a devastating impact on retailers. The financial repercussions are significant, with potential costs including hefty regulatory fines, expensive credit card fraud mitigation efforts, and a decline in sales due to customer churn.

Even more damaging, however, is the erosion of customer trust that follows a data breach. When consumers learn their personal information has been exposed, they may feel vulnerable and question the retailer's commitment to data security. This loss of trust can translate into a significant shift in shopping habits, with customers taking their business elsewhere and potentially sharing their negative experiences with others, further damaging the retailer's reputation.

Fortunately, there's a powerful tool at retailers' disposal to combat cyber threats and build customer confidence: cybersecurity. Cybersecurity encompasses a range of practices and technologies designed to safeguard data and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. By implementing robust cybersecurity measures, department stores can demonstrate their commitment to protecting customer information. This includes essential steps like data encryption, which scrambles sensitive data to render it unreadable in the event of a breach. Secure payment gateways further fortify the checkout process, ensuring customer financial information remains protected during transactions. Additionally, employee training plays a crucial role. Educating staff on cybersecurity best practices, including identifying phishing attempts and proper data handling procedures, strengthens the overall security posture. These proactive measures not only safeguard sensitive information but also send a clear message to customers: their trust and security are paramount. This commitment to data security fosters customer confidence, encourages continued patronage, and ultimately strengthens the department store's competitive edge.

However, building trust goes beyond just implementing strong cybersecurity measures. Transparency is equally important. Customers should also understand that a retailer is taking active steps to make sure their information is protected. Retailers can achieve this transparency by clearly communicating their cybersecurity practices. This includes readily available data privacy statements that outline how customer information is collected, used, and secured. Additionally, pursuing recognized security certifications demonstrates a department store's commitment to meeting rigorous industry standards for data protection. By maintaining clear and open communication about data security, retailers can address customer concerns, build trust, and foster a sense of security that keeps them coming back for a positive shopping experience.

By prioritizing robust cybersecurity and open communication, department stores can ensure a secure and trustworthy shopping experience for all. IADS has a partnership with the Retail & Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RH-ISAC) to provide cybersecurity resources for all IADS members. To learn more, visit rhisac.org/IADS.

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Over the last decade, department stores – once shining beacons of commerce and consumer culture – have found themselves increasingly under pressure. From the impact of the pandemic to the relentless rise of eCommerce, deepening labour shortages, and shifting shopper preferences, these venerable institutions are realising that they must adapt, or risk fading into irrelevance. Just look at Macy's – a retail icon that grew at an incredible rate in the early 2000s, now confronting mass closures to stave off the creeping threat of unproductiveness.

Set against this challenge, a new vision is emerging – one that views digitalization not as a threat, but as an opportunity to redefine the department store experience for a new omnichannel era. Around the world, forward-thinking retailers are leveraging innovative strategies and technologies to streamline operations, engage employees, and delight customers in ways that online commerce simply cannot match.

Why customers pick department stores in the eCommerce era

Department stores have a unique ability to turn shopping into a fun, social experience. They are vibrant hubs of activity with new collections and sales, especially during festive seasons, and deliver the experiential retail that customers crave. The presence of helpful and knowledgeable sales associates elevates this experience, providing the all-important human touch while facilitating easy, consumer-friendly policies. Great customer service is crucial not only for attracting shoppers to stores, but also for encouraging them to spend more –according to Alice POS, 42% of Americans will stop shopping with a brand after just two bad experiences, while 52% of consumers say they have made an additional purchase from a company after receiving positive customer service.

To deliver on the promise of experiential shopping, department stores must empower and motivate the people who bring in-person shopping to life: their frontline employees. Retail executives that invest in their customer-facing staff, providing them with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to excel, are better positioned to create the kind of personalised, memorable experiences that keep customers coming back time and time again.

Frontline tech delivers an outstanding shopper experience

This people-centric approach is exemplified by the partnership between Central and Robinson Department Stores (CDS), one of Thailand's largest department store chains, and YOOBIC, a virtual employee engagement platform designed for frontline teams. In 2020, CDS announced plans to merge the processes and support teams from its Central and Robinson brands to offer shoppers an unrivalled brick-and-mortar retail experience. The ambition was big – to create Thailand's first truly omnichannel department store – but so too were the hurdles: fragmented communication, inconsistent task execution, and a lack of accountability and visibility into store performance.

To overcome these obstacles, CDS turned to YOOBIC. Thanks to the platform's targeted, role-based communication tools, the retailer is now able to ensure the right operational information reaches the right employees at the right time, fostering greater consistency and compliance across its locations, like Visual Merchandising updates. YOOBIC's task management features provide Central Retail's leadership with real-time visibility into store execution, enabling them to track key performance indicators and hold teams accountable for results.

The benefits of the partnership extended far beyond operational efficiency, however. By creating digital communities within each of its 77 stores, CDS has fostered a greater sense of connection and belonging among its 4,000-strong frontline workforce. The platform's mobile-first learning and development system has also opened the door to bite-sized, on the-go training, empowering team members with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

CDS's commitment to employee development is exemplified by their upcoming relaunch of training programs, which will offer regular incentives for top performers during the initial months, supported by in-person field coach teams who'll promote a blended digital and face to-face learning approach. The workforce's enthusiasm for professional development and digitised workflows is already evident in the impressive 85% Weekly Active Users (WAU) on the YOOBIC platform, sustained over the past 5 months, and the creation of 400,000 missions in the last year, which have had an impressive 87% completion rate. Effective employee training and development has also been crucial for attracting and retaining talent –according to a YOOBIC survey, 49% of frontline workers don't think that onboarding prepared them well for their jobs, while 64% want opportunities for career growth within the organisation.

Tapping into employees' creativity and passion

The lessons of YOOBIC and CDS's collaboration highlight the transformative impact of structured operational communication for store teams, moving beyond basic tools like emails, Whatsapp, or Line to a unified and intuitive communications platform. YOOBIC has not only enabled seamless communication among store staff, however, but has also provided a direct channel for the C-Suite to engage with frontline workers. This direct contact allows senior management to share their vision, provide guidance, and gain valuable insights from the employees who interact with customers daily. Throughout Southeast Asia – and indeed across the globe – department stores are waking up to the fact that their most valuable asset is their people. By giving frontline workers a voice, a sense of purpose, and the tools to succeed through advanced communication strategies, retailers can tap into a wellspring of creativity, passion, and customer-centricity that no eCommerce algorithm can replicate.

Of course, this transformation is not without its challenges. Shifting long-standing practices, investing in new technologies, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation requires vision, commitment, and resources. But for department stores that get it right, the rewards are immense – not just in terms of sales and market share, but in the creation of a more vibrant, engaging, and human-focused retail landscape.Today, CDS enjoys a more knowledgeable and empowered workforce, better equipped to deliver personalised and exceptional shopping experiences. The sense of community and purpose fostered among the company's employees is a huge part of this, not only improving job satisfaction and retention, but also promising a positive impact on customer loyalty and sales.

As CDS continues to invest in its teams and technology, it sets a powerful example for others seeking to thrive in an increasingly competitive and digital world. The success of the brand's partnership with YOOBIC demonstrates that by prioritising the human element in retail, department stores can create a more resilient, adaptable, and profitable future.So, to department store leaders around the world, the message is clear: embrace the power of your people, and let digitalization be the catalyst for a retail renaissance that will stand the test of time. The future of your industry – and the hearts and minds of your customers – depends on it.

Fabrice Haiat - CEO & Co- founder / YOOBIC

YOOBIC is the #1 frontline digital workplace, dedicated to addressing frontline teams' challenges. The platform provides communication, learning and development, operations, and HR teams with the app they need to drive operational excellence while drastically improving the frontline employee working experience.

YOOBIC was founded in 2014 by 3 brothers, Fabrice, Avi and Gilles Haïat. Together they created a unique digital workplace that helps businesses empower their frontline teams for success, wherever they are, through effective communication, mobile learning and, digitized task management - all in one place.

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At the forefront of luxury retail, the convergence of technology and high-end fashion is redefining elegance and sophistication. In this digital era, luxury brands are leveraging innovative technologies to enhance the customer experience and stay ahead of evolving trends. From immersive virtual boutiques and augmented reality try-on experiences to blockchain authentication and personalized AI-driven recommendations, the fusion of technology and luxury fashion is creating unparalleled levels of engagement and exclusivity. Digital fashion shows offer global audiences unprecedented access to high-fashion runway events, while interactive experiences blur the lines between the physical and virtual worlds. As luxury brands navigate this intersection of technology and fashion, they are reshaping the retail landscape and redefining the standards of opulence and innovation.

Retail Hub, our partner dedicated to innovation, is constantly monitoring potential start-ups for IADS' members, including the latest brands bridging the gap between technological innovation and luxury fashion. Explore the initiatives of startups selected by the Retail Hub such as Beyond The Runway, Fringuant, and Emperia, BuyBuddy pioneering solutions to navigating the intersection of technology and high-end fashion and more by clicking below.

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What: Microsoft identifies active exploitation of SharePoint's ToolShell zero-day vulnerability, enabling unauthenticated attackers to gain full remote control of retail servers and extract cryptographic secrets.

Why it is important: The timing of this threat is especially significant as retailers struggle with mounting cyber insurance costs and recovery from recent high-profile breaches, potentially creating a perfect storm for the industry.

Microsoft has uncovered widespread exploitation of a critical SharePoint vulnerability chain known as ToolShell (CVE-2025-53770), which enables unauthenticated attackers to compromise on-premises servers. The vulnerability, demonstrated publicly on social media, allows attackers to bypass authentication through a specific HTTP Referrer header manipulation during POST requests. Once access is gained, attackers can extract the SharePoint server's MachineKey configuration, including the crucial ValidationKey, which can then be used to craft valid payloads for arbitrary command execution without administrative credentials. This zero-day exploit poses a particular threat to retail and hospitality sectors, where SharePoint is extensively used for internal collaboration, document management, and customer-facing portals. The potential for complete compromise of critical internal data, intellectual property theft, and operational workflow disruption has prompted Microsoft and CISA to issue urgent warnings, with patches now available for affected versions.

IADS Notes: The emergence of the ToolShell SharePoint vulnerability in July 2025 represents a critical escalation in retail cybersecurity threats, following a year of unprecedented incidents. In April 2025, M&S's GBP 700 million market value loss from a cyber attack demonstrated how digital vulnerabilities can severely impact retail operations. The incident's connection to third-party suppliers mirrors the current SharePoint exploit's potential to compromise entire retail networks through a single entry point. This risk is particularly concerning given that March 2025 saw a single security update failure cause GBP 5.4 billion in losses across Fortune 500 companies. The retail sector's vulnerability to such threats has already driven a 10% increase in cyber insurance premiums by May 2025, while industry data from April 2025 shows ransomware accounting for 30% of retail security incidents. With 41% of breaches now occurring through third-party providers, this unauthenticated SharePoint exploit presents an unprecedented risk to retail organizations' operational integrity and data security.

RH-ISAC: Microsoft warns of active exploitation of SharePoint via ToolShell zero-day

What: Global CISO survey reveals critical security gaps in retail sector, with 82% of companies lacking strong digital core security maturity while facing increased ransomware and supply chain threats.

Why it is important: As recent attacks on major retailers demonstrate, the findings highlight an urgent need to strengthen cybersecurity foundations, with ransomware and supply chain vulnerabilities now directly impacting market valuations and customer trust.

The 2025 CISO Benchmark Report reveals significant vulnerabilities in retail cybersecurity infrastructure, with only 18% of companies achieving frontrunner status in digital core security maturity. The survey of 171 CISOs identifies ransomware (70%) and supply chain attacks (58%) as the primary security risks, while budget constraints (71%) and competing IT priorities (69%) emerge as major challenges. Business continuity has become the top cybersecurity priority, rising four places from 2024, reflecting the sector's growing focus on operational resilience. The report highlights a significant shift in security workforce composition, with contractors comprising 52% of InfoSec teams, rising to 60% among frontrunners. Despite these challenges, the sector shows promising developments in NIST Framework adoption, with scores rising 25% since 2024 and frontrunners outperforming peers by 12%. The findings emphasise the critical need for retailers to secure their digital core while balancing rapid technological advancement with robust security measures.

IADS Notes: The 2025 CISO Benchmark Report's findings are starkly validated by recent events in the retail sector. The report's emphasis on ransomware as the top security risk (70% of respondents) was demonstrated by the devastating Marks & Spencer attack in April 2025, which wiped £700 million off their market value. The importance of supply chain security, cited by 58% of respondents, was highlighted when both Harrods and Co-op suffered breaches through third-party vulnerabilities in May 2025, with Co-op's incident affecting up to 20 million customers. The report's revelation that 82% of companies lack strong security maturity aligns with the March 2025 Crowdstrike incident, where a single security update failure resulted in £5.4 billion in losses across Fortune 500 companies. These incidents have transformed the cyber insurance landscape, driving a 10% increase in premiums across the UK retail sector, while demonstrating the report's key finding that business continuity has become the top cybersecurity priority.

RH-ISAC: 2025 CISO Benchmark Report

What: Cybercriminals target Sainsbury's loyalty programme members through unauthorised access and point redemption scheme.

Why it is important: This incident reveals a critical security challenge for retailers as loyalty programmes evolve from simple point-collection systems to valuable digital assets requiring sophisticated protection measures.

Sainsbury's Nectar loyalty programme members are experiencing a significant surge in points theft, with one customer reporting the loss of two years' worth of accumulated points. This follows an earlier investigation that uncovered  GBP 63,000 worth of stolen Nectar points over a one-year period, prompting the implementation of a "lock" feature for all accounts. The primary attack method involves unauthorised access and rapid redemption of points at unfamiliar locations, suggesting the use of credential stuffing, phishing, or security vulnerability exploitation. While Nectar maintains that only a small proportion of accounts are affected and highlights protective measures like the "Spend Lock" feature, the recurring incidents indicate an ongoing targeted campaign against one of Europe's largest loyalty programmes. Security experts are particularly concerned about the timing of these attacks during peak accumulation periods like Christmas.

IADS Notes: The Sainsbury's Nectar points theft incident in June 2025 aligns with a broader pattern of sophisticated cyber attacks targeting retail loyalty programs. This follows May 2025's revelation of a complex cybercrime supply chain specifically targeting retail loyalty programmes, where criminals sell stolen credentials for as little as GBP 5. The timing is particularly significant as it coincides with industry data showing ransomware accounting for 30% of retail security incidents, with average losses reaching GBP 1.4 million per attack. The vulnerability of loyalty programs has become increasingly critical as retailers expand their digital engagement strategies, while the Co-op's recent cyber attack affecting 20 million customers demonstrates the scale of potential breaches in major retail loyalty systems.

RH-ISAC: Sainsbury’s rewards programme targeted by malicious actor for monetary gain

What: Account takeover attacks have evolved into a sophisticated cybercrime supply chain targeting retail loyalty programmes and e-commerce platforms, with criminals selling stolen credentials and session cookies for £5-20.

Why it is important: The emergence of this organized criminal marketplace directly threatens the digital transformation efforts of retailers, with recent incidents showing how stolen credentials can lead to millions in losses through loyalty point theft, fraudulent transactions, and damaged customer trust.

The cybercrime ecosystem has evolved into a sophisticated supply chain that systematically targets retail and hospitality businesses through account takeover (ATO) attacks. With an alarming 28% annual growth in exposed credentials, this underground economy operates through a well-structured network of initial access brokers, who sell stolen information and active session cookies for as little as £5. The threat is particularly acute for retail loyalty programmes, which often lack robust multi-factor authentication while containing valuable, cash-equivalent points. E-commerce platforms face similar vulnerabilities, as stored payment methods and customer preferences become lucrative targets for fraudsters. The impact extends beyond immediate financial losses, affecting customer trust and operational stability. Particularly concerning is the criminals' ability to bypass traditional security measures through session hijacking, where stolen cookies enable unauthorized access without triggering standard security alerts. To combat these threats, retailers must implement a layered defence strategy, including shorter cookie durations, proactive session monitoring, and adaptive authentication measures for high-risk accounts.

IADS Notes: The article's warnings about account takeover (ATO) threats are starkly validated by recent cyber incidents across the retail sector. In April 2025, Marks & Spencer fell victim to the Scattered Spider hacking group, resulting in a £700 million market value loss and highlighting how sophisticated cybercrime networks can paralyse major retailers. This was followed by attacks on Harrods and Co-op in May 2025, with the latter exposing data of 20 million customers, demonstrating the scale of potential breaches. The financial impact has been severe, with industry data from April 2025 showing ransomware accounting for 30% of retail security incidents and average losses reaching £1.4 million per attack. The ripple effect has transformed the cyber insurance landscape, driving a 10% increase in premiums across the UK retail sector. These incidents underscore the article's emphasis on the cybercrime supply chain, as demonstrated by the December 2024 Blue Yonder ransomware attack that affected over 3,000 retailers worldwide, showing how criminals can exploit interconnected retail systems for maximum impact.

Stolen logins, lost trust: The hidden supply chain behind account takeovers in retail & hospitality